Over the weekend of the 28th and 29th March 25 members of Clontarf TKD took part in the biggest domestic tournament in Ireland so far this year, the Dublin Open International.

The Dublin Open 2015 saw 639 competitors from several Irish Associations, Germany, Switzerland, Albania & Scotland compete over 2 days across seven rings in patterns, sparring, special technique & breaking. We are delighted that once again Clontarf finished in 7th place out of a total of 43 clubs/associations. Thank you to the students and the parents for a great turnout and fantastic performances from all.

On Saturday 28th March the top 4 Irish fighters at -45 kg went head to head in the last big competition ahead of the World Championships in Italy in May. The was no holding back as the girls fully tested each other ahead of the top 3 heading to Italy in the coming months. Clontarf's Rebecca Mooney came out on top on this occasion beating her good friend Grainne for the first time in 3 attempts in a final Rebecca controlled well from start to finish.

The 4 girls are a credit to their Clubs and Irish Taekwon-do. We wish Rebecca, Grainne and Ciara all the best In Italy next month.

In the under 10 yellow belt division Clontarf dominated the rest of the country to take all 3 medals up for grabs with Fiona getting gold, Natalia getting silver and Orlaith getting bronze. The girls were in fine form on the day and the performances were excellent. They are currently the best in the country.

In the Irish Cup last year we also won all the medals in this division with Livia Martin getting the bronze instead of Orlaith who won it on this occasion.

Livia has progressed to the 11 year old division and won the Gold this time with her Club mate Sarah getting silver.

Mary Ruttledge made it through to the final despite only recently getting her yellow belt and being limited to a lower level pattern. However, Mary performed as expected and is certainly one to watch for the Irish Cup at the end of the year.

Clontarf had a number of junior members competing who have come through the development program and they all put in great performances with Lucian Neumann also getting among the medals with a fine bronze. Lucian will be one to watch for the Irish Cup later in the year.

Danny Morris performed very well in his first competition and we look forward to seeing him in action again. Ray Andre Medina was unfortunate to go out in the first round. Ray won the Irish cup last year and he was beaten in the opening round by the silver medalist at the Irish Cup 2014.

The truth was that the opening round saw the two best competitors by a mile up against each other so Ray can still be confident that he is one of the best there is in Ireland. He will bounce back, many more medals ahead of him and patience will be the key to his success.

Without doubt the performance of the day goes to Mark Hayes. While we are always saying it is about the taking part and the performance, winning two gold in such a high level competition deserves high praise. Mark has showed much promise and was probably hard done by an early exit at the Irish Cup last year. However, the mark of a true champion is one that gets back to work to bounce back in such a manner. Mark can look forward with confidence to the Irish Cup 2015.

Leyla O'Malley recently joined the Club and has shown a great attitude to her training and a trust in what her instructors want her to achieve.

She has taken on board what the instructors want her to focus on in the short term and it was great to see her renewed focus bring her the reward of a bronze medal. Very well deserved medal. Now we focus on the potential which is starting to become evident as we prepare for the challenges ahead.

Very steady performances from Mark Darmody in his first competition only losing to Club mate Michael Joyce who won the third place play off. Michael has medalled now in both the Irish Cup and the Dublin Open and is making great progress. Mark can now focus on his next pattern ahead of the Irish Cup.

Now this was a great sight to see as we had an all Clontarf final in the under 11 yellow belt division.

Livia Martin came out on top on this occasion winning gold but there was not much to separate the two. It's now a gold and silver in the big 2 competitions for Sarah who can be very proud of her achievements.

Livia has been looking very sharp in training and her gold was well deserved.

As we look forward to the rest of the year there are a number of students who have won medals at the last big two competitions and going for 3 out of 3.

Andreya made it a fantastic 9 straight gold in patterns competitions with another assured performance. It's a great achievement considering she is still learning her new pattern and will only get better as she starts preparation for her blue belt grading ahead of the Irish Cup at the end of the year.

Finn O'Doherty and Dan Byrne were two newcomers to the competition circuit and what a start they both made. We are particularly proud that they were both able to take the progress they have made in sparring onto the big stage winning a number of fights before clashing in the 3rd place play off. On this occasion it was Dan who came away with the bronze but it won't be long before the impressive Finn will be getting into the medals. Dan also had a great outing in patterns getting bronze also while a polished performance from Finn is a sign of good things to come.

Nerves are always the big thing in competitions for the first time, and in truth probably every time. Once William Dempsey got a hold of his nerves he performed very well and should be very proud of himself.

In fact the same can be said of Sam Pope and Eoin Chandler who also performed very well on the day.

Now that they have experienced the competitive side of taekwon-do they know how much training is needed in order to achieve your full potential. Full focus and dedication will be rewarded.

Another strong performance from Rowan Dowling Mahony to achieve Gold yet again. That's gold in sparring last year and gold in patterns this year. This is a young man with more talent than he believes but there is no doubt that he can continue to be successful long into the future.

Below Eoin Chandler lost out in the 3rd place play off and can be very pleased with his first outing on the mats.

No joy from the double silver madalist at the Irish Cup, Jerry Weng but knowing Gerry as we do he will keep training away and he will have his day. Big focus needed now from all students to improve for the Irish Cup and we will be very determined to maintain our standing in the top 10 clubs in the country.

Pictured above Livia Martin receiving her Gold from Mr Niall Jones and Rod Anthony getting another Gold. Rod is a quiet young man who goes about his taekwon-do in a no fuss way. He is very modest and lets his taekwon-do do the talking. He will have more success in the future.

Here are most of the gang who competed along with our future competitors.

We are lucky to have such a wonderful bunch and we are fully committed to ensuring they all achieve their full potential.

Effort and attitude will build more champions at Clontarf TKD.

So that's another fine performance with a total of 9 Gold, 3 Silver and 7 Bronze and a 7th place finish for Clontarf TKD. Well done to all associated with the Club. A great team effort.

Mr Mooney's silver at the Irish Cup was followed by a 4th place finish at the Cork Open. We don't always get among the medals but the challenge is to stick at it and bounce back. The photo below shows Mr Mooney performing his second pattern in the final of the Dublin Open that he went on to win 5-0 to take Gold. Also below both our instructors pictured following the patterns competition. Rebecca also went on to take gold in sparring later in the day.